


Blueprint To My Heart

by meismessofmemories



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Fantasy, Fluff, Gratuitous Name Dropping Of Other Idols, Hwang Hyunjin is Whipped, Innie and Hyunjin are Princes, It's All Fluff Honestly, It's Not Too Slow I Promise, M/M, Magic, Princess Yeji Supremacy, Slow Burn, Strangers to Lovers, The Other Members Aren't In It Too Much I'm Sorry, Yang Jeongin Is Whipped, kind of, kingdom - Freeform, lots of fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:34:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28232502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meismessofmemories/pseuds/meismessofmemories
Summary: Every day he is pulled a bit further into Hyunjin. He can almost feel himself drowning in the man’s words and eyes and laugh, and it scares him to put a name to this feeling but he thinks he knows what it is. It’s as if Hyunjin is the center of the galaxy and Jeongin is just a hapless planet, captured by the force of the most powerful sun.Or~Jeongin is sentenced to guard duty, and he somehow manages to fall in love with the man on the other side of the border.
Relationships: Hwang Hyunjin/Yang Jeongin | I.N
Comments: 8
Kudos: 46
Collections: Chan's Kitchen Secret Santa 2020





	Blueprint To My Heart

**Author's Note:**

> hello! this is a holiday gift for Ryn, who is lovely in every way<3  
> i do plan on writing a second (and maybe third?) part, but for now i'm leaving it at one chapter and we'll see if i get it done. please ignore the excessive namedropping i do, i love idol cameos a bit too much.

Jeongin thinks himself to be possibly the worst prince in the history of the Dark Kingdom Levanter. And that’s saying something, considering the psychopathic and sometimes plain stupid tendencies of some of his ancestors. He has what Jisung calls a ‘knack for mischief’ and what Minho calls ‘predispositioned idiocy’, which is quite a hefty sentence coming from a man Jeongin has seen licking his cat to wash it. Cats aren’t even allowed in the Royal Guard. It’s just a Minho thing. 

Usually Jeongin is clever enough to cover his tracks when sneaking out of the palace to run around the woods, or buy sweet buns from Choi Soobin’s corner bakery, or pay a visit to Tzuyu who sells the best sleeping draughts. But unfortunately his luck tends to run out, and this time he was caught. And caught by none other than Wonpil, his father’s most trusted and loyal knight. So sue him for wanting a late night treat. 

Jeongin’s sentence? Guard duty. And not only that- six months guard duty on the _eastern border,_ the line dividing Levanter’s rolling rural towns and the unfamiliar land of Haven, the Light Kingdom of the East. Every noble and their dog knows that the eastern border guard is a joke. Nothing ever happens in that area, despite rumors of hostile Haven residents in the past. 

Which is why Jeongin, being a mature seventeen-year-old boy, pitches a veritable fit when King Sungjin tells him his punishment. His father has always been a patient man and Jeongin is hoping to soften his heart, but it is to no avail. The second prince of Levanter is cursed.

“‘Go.” Sungjin intones. “Now.”

And go he does, though not without an appropriate amount of pouting. Changbin, his friendliest and shortest guard, helps Jeongin pack his day bag with a lunch and some books to entertain him throughout the day. Jisung and Minho laugh at his suffering when Jeongin finally emerges, ready for his walk to the border. 

With all the grace of a kingdom prince, Jeongin gives them the finger and continues on his way.

The border isn’t far from their castle. Especially since Jeongin’s already downed a speed booster, courtesy of Minho, and his jog is at about the speed of a full grown lion’s sprint. He reaches the edge of the grounds quickly and continues on his way, sorely regretting his decision to get some of Soobin’s meat buns instead of studying Commerce like a good little prince. 

He avoids the main city, choosing to instead skirt along the edge of the bustling shops and carts. A large number are gathered right outside the castle gates. He spots the familiar cart of Jongho with all his instruments, Mingi perched on the edge with the grace of a cat. He’d stop if he had the time, but he doesn’t, and he won’t. 

The suburbs are ringed outside of Levanter’s capital. They’re full of modest cottages and large townhomes alike, spread out in a pleasing, if a bit chaotic, blueprint. Jeongin comes here sometimes in secret just to watch the people. He enjoys seeing what the citizens are up to. Trapped within the palace walls, he gets his only doses of outside culture from Minho, Jisung, and Changbin, his guards. 

It’s probably why he sneaks out so much. His siblings, Crown Princess Nayeon and young Prince Taehyun, have never done anything of the sort. Nayeon, as the heir to the throne, spends most of her time studying and practicing Levanter’s arts. Shadow blending and dream influence comes naturally to Sungjin’s eldest, in a way it never did to Jeongin. 

He’s much better suited to attack magic, like energy drainage. Jeongin is particularly adept at drawing the life out of someone before their battle even begins. When he was younger, training to someday lead a guard force, he’d sometimes knock his opponent out before they even had time to raise their sword. Now, Jeongin uses shadow-camoflauge the most, for the obvious reason of slipping away unnoticed. 

Levanter’s arts are considered ‘Dark Magic’. It’s where his country got its name- The Dark Kingdom Levanter. It makes their neighboring kingdoms wary of them, especially Haven, their long-lasting rival. There’s no respectable Levanter citizen that admits to liking their neighbor. Haven and Levanter have been cordial at best, violent at worst. 

The Light Kingdom is Levanter’s opposite. Jeongin’s only met a few people, representatives and such, from the other kingdom, and they didn’t make an outstanding first impression. His only thoughts about the ambassadors of Haven were that they were pompous and a bit too bright to look at. 

Haven is a country full of light, just as Levanter is infused with shade. Neither is good or bad- real life is rarely so black and white. Jeongin is well suited to the shade; he has the dark eyes, hair, and demeanor of a Levanterian, and he melts into shadows without a second thought. He can’t imagine living in a place where he could never hide from the light. 

He’s crossing into the rural outskirts now. Little farms dot the rolling hills and small trading towns gather near the border. Jeongin watches them curiously as he slips in and out of shadows, conserving energy by rarely letting his feet touch the ground. He’d been aware that Levanter trades across this border, but it never occurred to him that they were actually trading with Havenians. 

Maybe he’ll see someone on the other side. The thought brings him neither joy nor disgust, just mild curiosity. He wonders if the people will be as loud as they say. Nayeon’s friend Jihyo, a member of the Royal Guard, tells stories of the Havenians on her stretch of the border guard. They’re bright and loud and they laugh too much, is what she says. 

They sound annoying, if Jeongin is to be honest, and he resolves to ignore them if one approaches him. No sense in making friends with what is basically their enemy. 

There’s a story in every Levanterian child’s children’s book about the Ancient War. It lasted exactly six months and three days. Nearly half the population of both Haven and Levanter was killed, and all because of a small skirmish that happened on the eastern border. The very same one Jeongin was headed towards. The war was all over something small, usually likened to a loaf of bread or a bracelet in the storybooks, and the moral is that pettiness only leads to sorrow.

The war was real. The story is limited. The Ancient War really did happen between Haven and Levanter, and many people did die, but it wasn’t over a loaf of bread. Jeongin suspects it was something much more, something historians have been puzzled over for decades. He wonders if the Havenians are bitter. They lost the war, after all, and their borders were pushed farther east, expanding Levanter’s reach by a lot. 

The thought brings a bit of pride into Jeongin, which he feels a bit sheepish about. It’s not like _he_ fought in the Ancient War. He’s just King Sungjin’s spoiled second child, his first son. 

Jeongin is at the border in the blink of an eye. Around him are woods, pleasantly cool and shaded woods, and he can hear frogs croaking in a swamp over to his left. The air is fresh after last night’s rain. It’s a nice day, all in all, but it pales in comparison to what he sees across the border. 

Haven is _glowing._

It’s not beautiful. Not by Jeongin’s standards, at least. But it’s brighter and more colorful than anything he’s ever seen. Light willowy trees line the other side, like the pond woods inverted. The sky is a clear crystal blue. Even the grass is greener, little blades of jade and electric green softness. It’s nearly blinding. 

Haven looks like Levanter’s popular older sister. There’s a barrier in the air, it’s visible in the way the view ripples like heat waves on a summer day, and Jeongin can’t believe what a stark contrast it throws. If he walked just ten yards forward he’d be in a completely different world. It’s strange but oddly captivating, like the old art in Sungjin’s study.

After a few minutes of drinking in Haven’s glow, Jeongin’s eyes are complaining, unused to the amount of light. He looks away. The forest of outer Levanter is cool and welcoming on his eyes and he breathes out a sigh he didn’t even know he was holding in. Jeongin finds comfort in the familiarity of shadows, of the cloudy-day half light he’s grown up with.

Haven is a blinding mid-day. Levanter is a soft morning. 

A twig suddenly snaps behind Jeongin. He suppresses a gasp and stiffens, and his hand strays to his side, finding the hilt of a silver dagger Jisung slid into his belt. His ears strain for a sign of someone, or something, there, and after a few moments he hears something else. Footsteps. Someone is walking across the crisp grass of Haven.

Jeongin whirls around and whips his dagger out, holding it by his side. His eyes flash dangerously and he puts on his best intimidating front to see a-

Boy. A boy. A very beautiful boy. Not that his looks are important, because they most certainly are not, and Jeongin isn’t paying attention to that. Of course. 

The boy seems just as surprised to see Jeongin as Jeongin is to see him. His amber eyes ( _can eyes be that clear? like pools of honey. strange._ ) widen expressively and his mouth forms a perfect _o._

“Who are you?” The boy blurts out. 

Jeongin comes to the sudden realization that this stranger is _tall,_ so he straightens his back and squares his shoulders. Clearing his throat, he answers, “A guard.”

“A guard,” The boy wonders aloud, “there’s never been a guard over here before.”

“I’m the first.” Jeongin says. It technically isn’t a lie- he’s the first to patrol this part of the border, since nobody usually comes here due to the inactivity. He decides, watching the boy’s amber eyes take him in, that he does not like Havenians. They’re much too perfect. Unnatural. 

The boy eventually nods, and says, “I’m Hyunjin.”

“Okay.” Jeongin responds. He remembers his thought earlier, to just ignore the other side, and clamps his mouth shut. Hyunjin doesn’t seem too perturbed. He actually just sits down in the Havenian grass, which does indeed look very soft, and opens a book. 

Jeongin tries to ignore him, he really does. He occupies himself with much more interesting things than the boy on the other side of the border. Things like counting the moths that flit past him, and watching the same tree sway in the wind until the third leaf on the left branch falls to the ground, and examining the drawstring on his bag. Fine craftsmanship. His father should find the maker of this bag and knight them.

But his eyes stray back to the stranger. Hyunjin is bowed over his book, back against one of the slender trees. A soft curtain of silky blond hair falls over his eyes, the rest tucked behind his ears, and those wide brown eyes are focused solely on the pages. Just the sight of him annoys Jeongin. Sitting there, reading and looking pretty, when he should obviously be on guard duty or something. 

Jeongin decides to tell him as much. 

“Aren’t you supposed to be doing something?” He asks pointedly once Hyunjin turns another page. The boy in question looks up, blinking, and slips a pressed flower into the pages as a bookmark. Jeongin snorts. Even Havenian _bookmarks_ are pretty.

“No?” Hyunjin says, tilting his head a bit. “I’m not sure what you mean.”

Jeongin huffs. “You’re out here for guard duty, aren’t you?”

“I guess you could say that.” Hyunjin muses, a thoughtful expression on his graceful face. He then nods. “Yes. I am.”

“Then maybe you should guard instead of sitting beneath a tree.” Jeongin sneers. Some people have no sense of commitment. The irony of he, himself, thinking that isn’t lost on Jeongin, but he chooses to ignore his hypocrisy in favor of criticizing somebody else. It’s so much more fun that way. 

“Maybe I should.” Hyunjin agrees mildly, and gets to his feet. 

The rest of the day passes in a slightly awkward fashion. Hyunjin would attempt to engage in conversation every so often, and Jeongin would ignore him, so there were always a few moments of charged silence until Hyunjin stopped waiting for an answer. 

When the sun is finally dropping below the line of trees, Jeongin shoulders his pack once again and downs the rest of his speed draught. 

“You’re leaving?” Hyunjin’s musical voice comes from across the border. 

Jeongin turns. “Of course. I’m not going to stay here all night.”

“Ah. Well, have a good night.”

Jeongin just nods. 

Hyunjin is there the next day. And the next. And the next, in a chain of similarly fashioned visits until a whole week has gone by. They haven’t talked much since the first day, not for lack of trying on Hyunjin’s end, but Jeongin is slowly finding himself slipping into a routine. He wakes up, gets ready. Eats breakfast. Makes his journey to the border, waits until the sun is above the trees, and then Hyunjin arrives. 

Guard duty is dull, enough for Jeongin to barely pay attention to his surroundings and instead focus on ignoring Hyunjin. It’s a harder job than it looks. His eyes have the annoying habit of straying back to the taller boy, Havenian magic at work, and he must discipline himself to look away from the gentle slope of Hyunjin’s nose, and his slight pout as he reads one of his books. For a supposed guard, Hyunjin sure is inattentive.

“What is your name?” Hyunjin asks on the tenth day of Jeongin’s sad exile. “I told you mine, but I don’t recall an answer.”

Jeongin looks at him for a few moments, blinking. Hyunjin’s tone is friendly enough. Still, he can’t be sure the boy won’t use his name for some Havenian spell and curse him to always smell of marigolds or something equally ridiculous. He banishes the thought after further pondering. He wouldn’t mind smelling of marigolds. 

“Jeongin.” He finally says, and immediately looks away to where a stick lies in the dirt a few yards away. It’s an interesting stick. Very brown. Very tree-like. 

He can hear the smile in Hyunjin’s voice when the boy finally responds, “I like that name. It’s cute. Suits you.”

Jeongin is sure his blush is visible from all the way by Hyunjin’s customary reading tree. He turns away in an attempt to cover it up and fiddles with his dagger, kicking at the dirt on his nice, comfortable, Levanterian ground. His eyes have become much too used to the blinding mess that is the other side. A bit too used to Hyunjin, as well. 

He’s expecting them to go on with their customary ignoring each other, but Hyunjin seems to have other ideas today.

“You’re shorter up close.” Hyunjin’s voice remarks behind him. Jeongin whirls around and takes in two things at once. 1) Hyunjin is still just as bright on Levanterian ground. 2) _HYUNJIN IS ON LEVANTERIAN GROUND._

Jeongin lets out an unholy screech. He fumbles for his dagger but pauses, considering a thousand thoughts flooding into his mind. Is this an invasion? Is Hyunjin some sort of spy, or a really powerful mage? Did Haven send him to overpower the young guard on the border? Does he fight him? What if-

He ends up getting his dagger out with much difficulty, and sputters, “Get out! You aren’t supposed to be in- on the- border-”

“Calm down.” Hyunjin says mildly, a half-smile on his pink lips. “I just wanted to see what you look like.”

“What I-” Jeongin pauses. “You’ve been here for ten days. Haven’t you already seen me?” He then gasps as another thought strikes him. “Are you blind?”

Hyunjin laughs, a musical noise like… like a piano or something. Jeongin’s never been good at similes. His nose crinkles. 

“I’m not blind. Your side is just so dark and shady, I can barely see you.” He explains. “But now that I’m over here it doesn’t seem as dark. It’s like going into a room after being in the sunshine all day. Your eyes adjust.”

Jeongin doesn’t quite know what to say. His dagger hangs in his hand, forgotten, and he doesn’t think he’d be able to kill Hyunjin now. The Havenian boy wouldn’t be expecting it. A kill like that is cowardly. And besides, having Hyunjin over the border for a few minutes won’t ever get back to his father. 

“You need to leave.” Jeongin tells him. “Havenians aren’t supposed to cross the border. You’ll disrupt the flow of magic.”

Hyunjin frowns. “Flow of magic? You know that’s just an old myth, right? Havenian magic and Levanterian magic isn’t so different. My being here might actually help you out. Brighten up this dreary place a bit.”

“It’s not _dreary._ ” Jeongin hisses.

Hyunjin raises his arms in a placating gesture, the quirk of his lips infuriatingly attractive. “Okay, okay. Not dreary. Just… aesthetic.”

“Aesthetic?” Jeongin nearly laughs in spite of himself.

“Yes.” Hyunjin nods, grinning. “Aesthetic.”

Jeongin spends a few moments staring at the boy. Hyunjin is even more flawless up close- his skin is creamy and his eyes are like honey even in the dimmer Levanterian light, and his nose is adorably wide. All of these things Jeongin would notice, if he was looking. Which he isn’t. Not at all. 

“Right, well, you’re still on the wrong side of the border.” He finally says, clearing his throat. “So you should… go back.”

“Okay.” Hyunjin shrugs, surprisingly compliant, and he heads back across the border. There he blinks for a few moments and squints in the sun. Jeongin uses these few seconds to steal some unhindered gazes at him, his dagger hanging slack in his hand. Levanterian sunlight doesn’t do justice to Hyunjin- it’s too muted, too soft to capture the man’s full essence. 

He pushes these intrusive thoughts from his mind as Hyunjin turns back to send him an infuriatingly radiant smile. It’s like Hyunjin is the sun, and Jeongin is a poor Levanterian caught in it’s rays. He wonders for a moment if it’s possible to get burned.

Jeongin leaves his post that day full of questions and not many answers, but for some reason the tiny bit of knowledge that Hyunjin has a mole beneath his left eye keeps circulating through his mind. He gets little sleep.

Things change a bit after that day. For about two weeks Hyunjin stays on his side of the border, but Jeongin notices how he watches now. He watches Levanter, and Jeongin, much more attentively than before, and it makes Jeongin a bit uncomfortable if he’s honest. He’s used to people watching him- his father is the king, after all- but never in a quiet setting. Never when he’s alone.

And Jeongin hasn’t been alone for a long time. Some people would consider that a good thing, but Jeongin doesn’t particularly enjoy the suffocating nature of his court associates. His childhood was spent under the watchful eyes of nannies, advisors, and other young royals, not to mention his father and mother. The pressure lessened a bit when Queen Jiyoo died.

Jeongin isn’t one to speak ill of the dead, but he has no qualms about admitting his distaste for his late mother. She wasn’t part of much of his childhood- his favorite governess, Chungha Kim, took her place until Jeongin was about nine. That was when Jiyoo finally decided to enter his life. She fired Chungha, a decision Jeongin was bitter about for months, and took on the role of strict teacher and advisor. Jeongin was never particularly fond of her teaching methods.

After she succumbed to the mysterious sickness that kept her bedridden for months, Jeongin was free to study what he wanted and practice magic as he pleased. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t secretly thrilled. 

But, still. Living under a camera-like lens for everyone to examine grows tiring, and Jeongin welcomes the hours of peace and relative calm of his guard duty sentence. He figures it’d be much more dull if not for Hyunjin. The Havenian is just what you’d expect from someone of the sort- smooth, conversational, socially adept. Things Jeongin is decidedly not, unless you count diplomatic speeches. 

“How do you want to die?”

Jeongin, leaning on a tree, looks up and raises an eyebrow at his counterpart across the border. Hyunjin is sat criss-cross on the grass, his right hand propping up his chin. His face shows nothing but slight curiosity. As if questions about death are a typical conversation starter. 

“Huh?” Jeongin says astutely. 

Hyunjin shifts. “I’d like to be old enough that everything is taken care of. Then I can slip away however it happens. But not too old, or I wouldn’t be able to do anything. I’d want to be the age where you can do what you like because you’re an elderly man, but you don’t live with constant debilitating joint pain. How about you?”

Jeongin stares at him for a few moments. Hyunjin seems to be waiting for a response, his lips quirked up in a little half-smile. 

“I guess,” He starts hesitantly, a little confused by the random direction this visit has taken, “dying in my sleep might be nice. Peaceful, and all that. Maybe with someone I love.” 

Hyunjin’s eyes glimmer with some unidentifiable emotion. He nods thoughtfully. The wind on Haven’s side picks up a bit and ruffles his golden hair, the ends practically glowing in the sun’s rays, and Jeongin wonders for a moment how it would feel to card his fingers through the soft strands. 

“I suppose you’ve got lots of those.” Hyunjin remarks. When he receives nothing but a raised eyebrow, the man continues, “People you love, I mean. Maybe a future princess?”

“Oh.” Jeongin blinks. “Yeah. I guess.”

Hyunjin nods, a thin smile on his face, and opens his book. Jeongin frowns slightly. It’s not like he lied- he does have people he cares about. His father and siblings, first of all, and Jisung, Minho, and Changbin as well. They’re all close to him. There’s also Soobin at the bakery and even Wonpil, the guard who caught him sneaking out. 

But… he doesn’t _love_ any of them in the way he’d meant. Romantically. Jeongin’s never really _loved_ anyone, never had much of a chance. Princess or otherwise. He’s sadly inexperienced when it comes to romantic attraction. Jeongin thinks that even if he did _love_ someone, he might not even know until the other person said something. 

“What do you like in a person?” He finds himself asking the next day, when he’s returned for yet another guard shift. Hyunjin is busy picking a bunch of little white clovers. His hair is up in a loose knot, a few strands hanging out and framing his face. He straightens up and looks over at Jeongin inquisitively. 

“As in, a partner? Or just a friend.” Hyunjin asks. 

Jeongin’s face warms. “Um, a partner. Romantically.”

“What do I like in a person,” Hyunjin repeats, humming thoughtfully, “well, that’s pretty easy. I like someone who balances me out. Someone who smooths out my edges, someone who brings me down to earth but still lets me dream.”

Down to earth. Balanced. They aren’t qualities that Jeongin would think of when he thinks of Hyunjin. They’re more like what he’d think of when he thinks of… himself. It’s interesting that Hyunjin would want someone so different from himself. 

“And besides that,” The Havenian continues with a grin, “they have to be cute. Just like you!”

Jeongin’s heart misses a beat. He nearly chokes on air, pinching himself in an effort to maintain a neutral expression. The look on Hyunjin’s face is nothing but innocent. Surely he meant that in a purely platonic way, like an old woman cooing over a cat. Jeongin shouldn’t read into things. 

But-

Hyunjin called him _cute._ And it did _something_ because now Jeongin is struggling to formulate a sentence properly and his mind is scattered all over the place, like the stray clovers dropping from Hyunjin’s hold like dandelion seeds. The taller man seems largely unbothered by the amount of weeds he’s losing, crouching down to grab another handful as if he doesn’t already have enough, and he continues on his flower-picking venture as if he didn’t just send Jeongin into a mental spiral with three words. 

He ponders this over the next few days, combing through his memory of their conversations like he’s sifting through a gold mine. Jeongin normally wouldn’t think much of it- after all, Changbin calls him cute on the daily- but in the context of their conversation, the fact that Hyunjin called him cute alludes to something slightly more than platonic feelings of affection. 

Jeongin spends a good few hours just wondering how he got here. He went from pointedly ignoring the Havenenian across the border, to reluctantly tolerating his conversation, to obsessing over a simple exchange of words they had. 

He resolves to just ask Hyunjin about it. Jeongin is caught up at the palace on business for two days, which crawl by at the pace of a snail, and then he’s heading back to the border at unnatural speeds. He doesn’t bother to cast a protection charm of some sort, so the wind practically rips his clothes off, but he manages to hold onto his belongings and makes it to the border as the sun is peeking up over the treeline. 

Hyunjin isn’t there yet, so Jeongin deposits his bag by a nearby oak and gives himself a few minutes to just lay on the ground and catch his breath. The sun quickly rises into his line of vision and he squints in the onslaught of weaponized UV rays. 

He startles when the crunching of grass alerts him to Hyunjin’s presence. Jeongin bounces up to his feet and steels his nerves, ready to ask Hyunjin exactly what he meant by the comment the other-

“You’re not Hyunjin.” He blurts out. 

A man, likely his own age, squints at him on the other side. His features are soft, almost puppy-like, and his sandy brownish-blond hair has a muted sort of glow to it. While Hyunjin’s persona, his whole aura, is bright and energetic, this guy has a more gentle sort of feel. 

“You’re right.” The man says, raising an eyebrow. “Were you waiting for him?”

“Yes.” Jeongin says bluntly. He feels a bit annoyed that this random stranger is interrupting his peaceful time, especially since Hyunjin is still nowhere in sight. How is Jeongin supposed to ask his question if the other guard never shows up?

“The prince is busy today, so I’m taking over his post instead.” The man continues. He walks a bit closer to the border, staring at a point just above Jeongin’s eyes. “How do you even see over there? It’s dark as night.”

Jeongin ignores his question. He’s still caught on the man’s words. _The prince is busy today._ What prince? Does Haven even have a prince? Jeongin knows their crown princess is a woman named Yeji, and she’s set to take over the throne in a few years, but he’s never heard anything about a _prince._

_I’m taking over his post instead._

The only other person to ever man this post is-

“Hyunjin?” Jeongin gasps out loud. “Hyunjin is Haven’s prince?”

The new guard looks at him like he’s insane. “Of course. Who else would be along this border?”

“But-” Jeongin sputters, trying to coherently accept the fact that he’s been with the neighboring kingdom’s prince this entire time. Hyunjin never gave any indication of anything like that- although, neither did Jeongin- but he supposes it’s possible. 

“Hwang Hyunjin. Son of Hwang Eunbi, Queen of Haven.” The other man says. “Havenian princes traditionally have to spend some time along the Levanterian border to soak in the magic. It’s something like an initiation.”

“An initiation.” Jeongin repeats dumbly. “To soak in… the magic.” Another thought crosses his mind and he frowns. “Then why are you here? You aren’t a prince too, are you?”

The man laughs. “No, thank the gods. The name’s Kim Seungmin. I’m Hyunjin’s personal guard.” 

“Okay?” Jeongin says, a little lost. “So… why are you here?”

“To keep an eye on you.” Seungmin’s voice drops a bit and his chocolate eyes take on a bit of a dangerous glint. “Hyunjin talks about you a lot, you know. The mysterious guard on the other side of the border. I’m not completely convinced of your trustworthiness, being a cynical man myself, but I’m willing to give Hyunjin’s judgement the benefit of the doubt.”

Jeongin blinks. Seungmin doesn’t seem particularly mean, but it’s obvious he thinks Jeongin is some Levanterian siren bent on leading Hyunjin- _Prince Hyunjin-_ astray. 

“It doesn’t help that I can barely see you. Levanter really is strange.” Seungmin murmurs, almost to himself. He then raises his tone a bit. “What’s your name? Hyunjin never mentioned it.”

Jeongin pauses to do a bit of thinking. It isn’t likely that anyone in Haven knows the eldest Levanterian prince’s name off the top of their head, but Seungmin seems astute enough to figure it out, and now that Jeongin knows who Hyunjin is he isn’t taking any risk of being found out. So he uses his excellent skills of deception.

“Bob.” He blurts. 

Seungmin blinks. Raises an eyebrow. “Your name is… Bob.”

“Yeah.” Jeongin nods a bit too quickly, internally cursing his very existence. “It’s Bob. I’m from, uh, over yonder.” And if Seungmin has any doubts about _‘Bob from over yonder’,_ he doesn’t let them show. 

Instead, he says, “Alright,” and then proceeds to ignore Jeongin for the rest of the day. 

Literally. Every time Jeongin so much looks at him, Seungmin finds an interesting leaf on the ground or blade of grass to examine. Jeongin supposes he was the same way with Hyunjin at first. He wonders what changed. 

What about Hyunjin broke down his walls?

Jeongin thinks about Hyunjin. It isn’t hard, since he’s noticed a lot of little details about the man recently. It’s a bit funny- Jeongin doesn’t know Hyunjin’s last name, but he knows about his habit of humming quietly to himself when he reads, and he knows about how Hyunjin likes to pull a few strands out of his ponytail. 

Wait, no, he does know Hyunjin’s last name now. It’s Hwang. Hwang Hyunjin. It has a nice ring to it, and Jeongin spends a few seconds just sounding out the name in his mind. He knows about Hwang Eunbi- Haven’s queen- through his years of foreign relations studies, and the crown princess, Yeji, but the other children fell under the category of unimportance.

Hwang Hyunjin likes strawberries. He told Jeongin once, when it was almost lunch time and Hyunjin was complaining of his hunger. He then pulled a whole bunch from his bag and tossed a few over the border, which Jeongin caught, and they then turned into a game of hot potato. 

Hwang Hyunjin likes romance novels. He’s always reading a different one, and they always have happy endings, because he says that if a romance doesn't have a happy ending then it just makes him sad. 

Hwang Hyunjin likes his partners to be cute. Cute like Jeongin, apparently, which he’s still reeling from. He also likes them to be down to earth and reliable, which is unexpected, but Jeongin figures it’s nice to have balance. 

Hwang Hyunjin has a smile like diamonds, a laugh like bells, and a face like a painting. He likes to talk about strange, random topics, but somehow the conversation never feels awkward. He’s bright like the sun.

Jeongin tries to remember just when he began to think so highly of Hyunjin. It’s not as if there was an obvious switch- he didn’t wake up one morning and decide to not hate the guard on the other side of the border. He’s not completely sure how or when their conversations stopped being so one-sided. Perhaps Havenian magic is more subtle than he thought. 

Seungmin doesn’t seem to have the same effect, though. Maybe it’s because he refuses to even acknowledge Jeongin’s existence. It’s been a few hours now and Seungmin doesn’t seem at all eager to engage in any type of interaction, which Jeongin isn’t too sad about. He just wonders when Hyunjin will return. 

And he wonders why Hyunjin never mentioned the true reason for his “border patrol” visits. Granted, Jeongin never talked about his own, but Hyunjin seems like the type to not withhold anything. Jeongin feels like if he knew the man better, he’d always be able to tell exactly what he was thinking. Hyunjin’s just one of those people. 

Seungmin doesn’t say anything when he finally leaves, and Jeongin hurries home at a slightly more relaxed pace than he’d flown there that morning. He says a quick hello to Changbin and Jisung outside the castle. The two guards are messing around at the front gates, something that would usually get them fired, but since they’re two of Jeongin’s only friends Wonpil won’t do more than slightly reprimand them.

That night he has a hard time getting to sleep. Jeongin tosses and turns in his bed and when he finally drifts off, he spends the night dreaming of warm auburn eyes and pressed-flower bookmarks. 

His head is a mess. 

Hyunjin hasn’t arrived at the border yet, so Jeongin spends his time pacing back and forth like an irritated fox. He isn’t quite sure why he’s so nervous. It’s just Hyunjin- a “guard” he’s spent every day of the past two months with. Just a supposed guard who turned out to be a prince. 

But Jeongin is a prince too. And a Levanterian, at that. Why should he be afraid of one little conversation with Haven’s version of himself? He and Hyunjin are really more similar than he’d ever thought. Hyunjin’s status changes nothing. 

Jeongin flops down on the ground, ignoring the way his dagger presses uncomfortably into his side. He blows his inky bangs away from his eyes (he _really_ must cut those) and gazes up through the dappled screen of leaves. Levanter isn’t as dark as Hyunjin and Seungmin exaggerated. It’s just soft. He’s grown up under this magic-screened sky, living comfortable amongst the other Levanterians. 

He’d never imagined getting so close to Haven. The other side of the border is everything he’d always found distasteful- bright, delicate, and somehow so beautiful. When did his eyes get used to the light?

“Jeongin! You’re back!” 

Hyunjin sounds delighted, and a small part of Jeongin melts into a little puddle within his chest. He scrambles to his feet. Hwang Hyunjin stands on the other side of the border, brown bag slung over his shoulder, a bit of dirt on his nose.

“I came back yesterday.” Jeongin says, his voice a bit uneven. “I, uh, met your friend.”

Hyunjin pauses. “My friend?”

“Seungmin.”

Hyunjin’s expression changes instantly. The sparkle vanishes from his eyes and his lips form a thin line, and he looks at Jeongin shrewdly. “What’d he say?”

“Not much.” Jeongin shifts on his feet. “Just that you’re the prince of Haven. Which I didn’t know, oddly enough. When were you going to tell me?” Again, he’s struck by the hypocrisy of his statement, but Jeongin holds his ground.

Hyunjin sighs. Hesitates, then drops his bag on the ground and comes forward a few steps. Once he’s close enough to the border to make Jeongin slightly wary, he stops, and stares over at Jeongin.

“Are you mad at me?”

Jeongin is caught slightly off guard. No, he’s not mad at Hyunjin, but it would have been a bit nice to know before he… well, before he got attached. There. He’s attached to Hwang Hyunjin, and now that he knows who the other man is, things are a lot more difficult. 

“No.” He finally answers. 

“Then can I cross over? I want to see you.”

Jeongin pauses. If he were a good prince, a good Levanterian, he’d answer with a harsh ‘no’ without question. However, Jeongin thinks himself to be possibly the worst prince in the history of the Dark Kingdom Levanter. So, without much debate-

“Yes.” He nods. Hyunjin beams and, after waving his hand through the rippling curtain of magic, he crosses into Levanter.

Jeongin is struck for the second time by how Hyunjin seems to nearly glow. The taller man spends a few moments blinking, letting his eyes adjust. When they finally do his gaze drifts down to Jeongin and softens a considerable amount. 

“I’m sorry.” Hyunjin rushes before Jeongin can say anything. “I didn’t mean to deceive you or anything. I just didn’t want to scare you away.”

“Scare me away?” Jeongin repeats. He’s a bit distracted by their relatively close proximity, and the way Hyunjin smells faintly of strawberries and clover, but he tries to focus as Hyunjin speaks again.

“I don’t have many friends. Most of the nobles treat me differently, and they’re all self-important bastards anyways, so…” Hyunjin trails off for a moment, then clears his throat. “I don’t want things to change.”

Jeongin understands. He understands much more than Hyunjin knows. 

“They won’t. You’re still just a Havenian.” He scoffs, smiling a bit to let the other know he’s just joking. Hyunjin smiles as well and it seems to brighten the very trees around them. Jeongin’s sure there’s some sort of magic at work here, because his heart almost seems to squeeze. 

“You know,” Hyunjin says after a few moments, “it’s nice to see you over on this side of the border. It’s different.”

Jeongin avoids his gaze. “How so?”

“You’re more visible. It’s always kind of shadowy when I look over here from Haven, so it’s really different to see your features clearly. I almost forgot how cute you are.”

And there it is again. There Hyunjin goes calling him cute, like it’s the most normal thing in the world. Like he has no idea how much it makes Jeongin’s heart pound and his mouth pull up almost unwillingly into a small, tight smile. It reminds Jeongin of his determination to ask Hyunjin about his choice of words from a few days back. 

This seems quite unimportant now that Jeongin knows that Hwang Hyunjin, the prince of Haven, has been talking to him for weeks. But Jeongin is still curious. And he isn’t one to be overly subtle. 

“Why do you call me that?” He asks. 

Hyunjin blinks. “Call you what? Cute?”

“Yes.” Jeongin’s face grows warm. It sounds so adolescent when said out loud. Jeongin feels like a young teen again, fantasizing about the day he’ll meet someone of his own instead of enduring his mother’s lessons every day. 

“Because you are!” Hyunjin laughs. “You’ve got these sparkly big eyes and an adorable little smile, and you look like the human embodiment of a baby fox.”

With every word Jeongin wants to curl up into a ball and hide. Hyunjin seems to have no qualms about voicing his every thought, which Jeongin has to admire, but it also makes him blush in a way Changbin’s annoying affection never does. 

“I’ve never heard anyone call my eyes ‘sparkly’ before.” He manages to squeak out. 

Hyunjin shrugs. “That’s just how I see them.”

“Oh.” Jeongin says quietly, which is really all he can manage at the moment. 

Hyunjin spends about another hour in Levanter. They sit on the ground, which is apparently less comfortable than Haven’s, and Hyunjin talks about anything and everything. Jeongin asks about court life in his kingdom, wondering if it’s similar to his. It is. 

They share so many experiences, but in such different ways. Hyunjin studied science and astrology and commerce just as Jeongin did. He spent his training hours perfecting the arts of Haven, learning things Jeongin can’t imagine doing, but it all sounds so familiar in spite of that.

Every time Hyunjin tells a story or talks about one of his friends in the Royal Guard, Jeongin aches to lend his own. He knows, however, that it would be irresponsible to reveal his identity now more than ever. No matter how much he finds himself drawn to Hyunjin, he must put Levanter first. 

And he tries. 

The next day when Hyunjin asks to cross the border again, Jeongin doesn’t have the heart to refuse. Hyunjin spends a bit longer in Levanter than he had the previous day. He doesn’t pry when it comes to Jeongin’s personal life- instead he fills the silence with jokes and stories, smoothly carrying on the conversation in his way.

This becomes a somewhat regular occurrence. Every time Hyunjin crosses the border, Jeongin feels a brief pang of guilt, but Hyunjin looks so radiant and happy even on his side of the barrier that Jeongin just can’t make him leave. They talk about anything and everything, except Jeongin’s life at the palace. 

“I feel like I can tell you anything, Jeongin.” Hyunjin says one day. It’s late fall now and Levanter’s trees are losing their leaves. Haven somehow still looks perfect. “You’re so easy to talk to.”

Jeongin feels warm even in the slight chill of the almost-evening. “You think so?”

“I do.” Hyunjin nods. He reaches out to brush his fingers through Jeongin’s hair, which feels heavenly. “Somehow I just get the feeling that you understand. About everything.”

The guilt comes later. Jeongin loves spending time with Hyunjin, loves the odd but easy conversations they have and how he can relate to Hyunjin in a way he’s never been able to with anybody else. But he can’t help but feel that he’s lying to the Havenian prince. 

Isn’t it for the greater good? Jeongin should put himself and his people first, he knows, but as time goes on he wonders just how big of a deal it would be to just tell Hyunjin who he is.

Fall is slowly turning into winter and it’s getting a bit too cold to be comfortable. His guard duty sentence is nearly up. He has just three short months left and his half-year punishment will be over, and Jeongin finds that he doesn’t quite want it to end. It’s funny how time seemed to move so slowly at first, but now the clock is ticking down and it rushes past like a swift river. 

Jeongin wakes up one morning to a light dusting of snow. Jisung helps him find his boots in the deep recesses of his closet and Jeongin pulls them on with some difficulty, wrapping up in a long woolen coat and a black scarf. Changbin coos at him as he waddles awkwardly outside to grab his speed draught from Minho. 

“It’s getting pretty cold, Innie.” Jisung says as he prepares to leave. “You spend so much time on that border it’s a wonder you haven’t gotten sick yet.”

Changbin nods, ruffling Jeongin’s hair a bit as he walks past. “You’d think he has a secret lover or something.”

Jeongin thinks about his words all the way to his post. 

Changbin is wrong, of course. Hyunjin is nothing more but a friend. He’s never shown any romantic interest in Jeongin, so of course he doesn’t think of Jeongin in that way, and Jeongin doesn’t think of Hyunjin like that either. Friendship doesn’t have to lead to romantic attraction.

But when Hyunjin arrives and tramps across the border without much preamble, Jeongin finds himself thinking of it again. Especially when Hyunjin exclaims over how adorable he looks and how his cold-reddened cheeks are so pretty. And especially when, noticing how Hyunjin shivers in the Levanterian chill, Jeongin offers his scarf, and a pink blush spreads over Hyunjin’s face. Though it’s probably just from the cold. 

“If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?” Hyunjin asks him once the black scarf is securely wrapped around his neck. It’s another one of Hyunjin’s spontaneous question-of-the-day type things, and Jeongin is happy to answer. 

“Haven.” He says. He doesn’t have to think much- it’s the obvious choice. 

“Why?” Hyunjin’s tone is curious and he watches Jeongin with an odd sort of glint in his eyes. 

“It’s warm.” 

“No other reason?”

“Of course not.” Jeongin smirks. “What other reason could I possibly have?”

Hyunjin swats him with the sleeve of his jacket. “You brat! I know it’s because you want to see me.”

“I’m seeing you right now.”

“You know what I mean,” Hyunjin whines, “you’re just being difficult.”

“I am never difficult.” Jeongin giggles, his smile growing as Hyunjin tackles him and attempts to tickle him through the thick winter jacket. It doesn’t work very well but Hyunjin tries his best. Jeongin gives him a few pity laughs. 

“Seriously.” Hyunjin pants, a bit out of breath as he finally gives up on his failed attack. “You could come visit the palace. And we’d have so much fun! You could meet Seungmin and Chan and Felix-”

“I’ve already met Seungmin.” Jeongin interrupts dryly.

“Ah. Right. It doesn’t matter, you could meet him again.”

“I don’t think he’d want to see me again.” Jeongin says, his voice dropping a bit. “I don’t think he likes me very much.”

Hyunjin blinks. “Why not? Who could dislike you?”

Jeongin just shrugs, electing to ignore that last comment so he doesn’t read into it too much. He doubts he’d ever be welcomed into Haven- he’d stand out too much. If everyone in that kingdom glows like Hyunjin, Jeongin would stick out like a sore thumb.

“I can’t visit Haven anyway.” He says. “Levanter and Haven hate each other. I could never cross the border.”

“I’m over the border right now.” Hyunjin argues, frowning. “The kingdoms really aren’t so different. Maybe if you came to Haven just once-”

“I’m not crossing the border.” Jeongin interrupts. His voice comes out a bit more harsh than intended and Hyunjin abruptly closes his mouth, seeming a little hurt. Jeongin instantly regrets his words. 

“Alright.” Hyunjin says evenly. “That’s okay.”

They don’t talk about it for the rest of the day.

The problem, Jeongin is slowly discovering, is that he’s way too invested in the life of a Havenian man who he only met about four months ago. They haven’t known each other for long enough to be as comfortable as they are, but somehow Jeongin finds himself enjoying Hyunjin’s company far more than almost anyone he’s ever met. 

Every day he is pulled a bit further into Hyunjin. He can almost feel himself drowning in the man’s words and eyes and laugh, and it scares him to put a name to this feeling but he thinks he knows what it is. It’s as if Hyunjin is the center of the galaxy and Jeongin is just a hapless planet captured by the force of the most powerful sun.

Is it magic? He doesn’t think so. No, he believes it’s more than that. Maybe it’s just pure Hyunjin _._ He can’t imagine anyone resisting the pull of the prince’s gravity, least of all himself. How can anyone be so captivating? 

Jeongin wakes up with a purpose every morning, and it’s like an itch he can’t scratch when he goes to bed. Being apart from his sun is getting harder and harder. 

It’s not healthy. He knows it’s not- he shouldn't be so obsessed with one friend, especially not when he has Changbin and Minho and Jisung at the palace who’ve always been there and always been faithful. 

But is Hyunjin just a friend? Or is he something more? Jeongin can’t quite put a name to everything he’s feeling, but he doesn’t like where it’s headed. Even if he somehow had romantic feelings towards Hwang Hyunjin, he could never act on them. They’re princes of neighboring kingdoms who hate each other. There’s nothing to be changed there.

So every day Jeongin wakes up, runs to the border, waits for Hyunjin. They talk, they laugh, they lie in the snow sometimes and make angels. Hyunjin shows him Havenian magic and Jeongin tries not to blend into the shadows. 

Hyunjin can grow the most delicate purple flowers from a fresh snowbank. He can fill Jeongin with an indescribable yet beautiful feeling with just a touch of his hand, charged with the energy and magic of Haven’s power, though it may also have to do with Jeongin’s heart. He can listen to the warnings of the wind and glow like a star. 

He’s like a star. Like Jeongin’s very own constellation come down to Levanter. Hyunjin somehow decided to grace him with his presence, and Jeongin can’t decide if it’s a blessing or a curse. 

“You remind me of a snow fox.” Hyunjin tells him for the umpteenth time. “You’re so small and cute.”

_Do friends say that?_

“I feel like I can tell you anything, Jeongin.”

_Why does Jeongin have to lie?_

“When you come to Haven…”

_Will he ever get to cross the border?_

Jeongin, one day, decides that he is tired of this. He can’t hide himself from Hyunjin any more. He can’t pretend to be something he is not, and Hyunjin deserves to know the truth. Jeongin might not ever get the chance to see him again once his punishment is over. The clock is ticking and it's almost been five months. 

Something needs to change. 

Snow has started falling on Haven’s side of the border. According to Hyunjin, the most they ever get is a light dusting. It’s incomprehensible to Jeongin, who’s used to short yet freezing winters full of ice and snow and cloudy skies, but a lot of things about Haven are strange to him. 

Jeongin awaits Hyunjin’s arrival, nervously twisting the strap of his bag. His coat does nothing to stop his shivering, though that may be more from nerves than anything else, and he searches the treeline of Haven for any sign of Hyunjin.

Today, he’s crossing the border. 

It’s something he thought about into the early hours of the morning the previous night, and Jeongin feels he’s ready. He trusts Hyunjin. He trusts Hyunjin too much, and he knows it’s not okay, and he knows that soon he’ll have to say goodbye, but he doesn’t care for now. Jeongin wants to do something reckless. 

When Hyunjin appears over the slight slope, weaving his way through the narrow willows, Jeongin takes a deep breath and sticks his shaking hands into his pockets. 

“Innie!” Hyunjin waves as he makes his way through the snow. “It’s a beautiful morning, right?”

It is a beautiful morning. The sky is that perfect shade of blue, like the blue of a robin’s feather, and the snow sparkles and gives off a soft white glow. Where the borders mix the weather is usually similar. It makes Haven and Levanter feel just a bit more connected. 

“Hyunjin.” Jeongin says once the taller man stops, just a few feet away from the border as usual. Hyunjin notices his shaky tone instantly and a look of worry crosses his pretty features. 

“Are you okay? Is something wrong?” He frets, his nose adorably pink in the crisp cold air. 

Jeongin shakes his head. “Nothing is wrong. I just- I have something to tell you.”

“Okay.” Hyunjin says slowly. He still looks worried but he makes to cross the border, and Jeongin holds up a hand. The man stops and a confused frown turns his lips downward. 

“I haven’t been honest.” Jeongin says quickly. He needs to say this before his nerves stop him. “I’m not exactly who you think I am.”

Hyunjin blinks. “You’re… what?”

“My name is Yang Jeongin. My father is King Sungjin of Levanter.” The words spill from his mouth easily, as he’s made this introduction countless times, and Jeongin finds it’s easy to go on autopilot from here. “I’m not a guard. This border patrol was my punishment for sneaking out.”

Hyunjin opens his mouth, then closes it. He seems to pass through a few emotions at once. There’s a short, tense silence as the Havenian simply stares at Jeongin. 

“I understand if you’re angry.” Jeongin continues. “I don’t blame you. I just thought I should tell you before I cross the border.” 

Hyunjin’s brow furrows. “Before you what?”

“Cross.” Jeongin nervously watches the other prince. “I’m saying I want to go over to Haven. To you. Will you let me?”

There’s another silence. Jeongin’s shivering only increases and he curses Levanter’s climate for making this all even worse. Maybe this was a mistake. He should have just kept his mouth shut and waited for his guard duty to end. 

“Yes.”

At first the word doesn’t register in his mind. Then Jeongin snaps to attention and realizes that Hyunjin is there and he’s holding out his hand, and this is oddly similar to a situation they were both in not too long ago. 

“You’re not mad?” His voice trembles. 

Hyunjin smiles. Just the sight of it is enough to warm Jeongin up instantly. 

“I’m not. Now take my hand.”

Jeongin lets out a small laugh and slowly takes his hand out of his pocket. He’d forgotten gloves and the air stings his skin, but he brings it forward and reaches through the barrier. 

His hand meets Hyunjin’s. The Havenian’s skin is warm and charged with energy and as soon as they make contact the warmth spreads throughout Jeongin’s body with all the soft heat of warm cocoa and honey lemon tea. Hyunjin pulls him gently across the border. 

The light is blinding. 

Jeongin screws his eyes shut, wincing, and brings his left arm up to cover his face for a few moments. He blinks narrowly and waits for the dancing spots to leave his vision. It takes a while but he’s aware of Hyunjins arm around his shoulders and his hand still in Jeongin’s. 

He opens his eyes and sees. 

If Hyunjin was beautiful on Levanter’s side, he’s absolutely breathtaking in Haven. Jeongin can’t help but softly gasp as he takes in all of the soft features of Hyunjin’s face, the glowing cascade of his blond hair, that tiny mark under his eye. Hyunjin looks like an angel. 

“You’re so pretty.” He murmurs, almost in spite of himself. Pretty doesn’t do Hyunjin justice. Pretty is an inadequate word. But it’s all Jeongin can think of as he stares at the man he’s known for such a short time. He's like a sculpture in an art museum- perfect and fascinating and off-limits. Except this sculpture, Jeongin is allowed to touch. 

Hyunjin’s catlike eyes are narrowed in the most stunning smile. “I can’t believe you actually crossed.”

“I can’t believe it either.” 

“Jeongin,” Hyunjin says, and now his voice mimics Jeongin’s own unsure tone from before, “I’m not reading this wrong, am I?”

Hyunjin’s hand hasn’t left his. Jeongin doesn’t want it to. He briefly wonders when he got so bold, when he gained the courage to touch Hyunjin, to see Hyunjin, to _be with_ Hyunjin. He wonders when it was that they stopped being ‘just friends’. 

“You’re not.”

“Good.” Hyunjin says, and then he’s pulling Jeongin even closer to kiss him. Jeongin’s eyes close of their own accord and he leans into the soft feeling of Hyunjin’s lips on his. He smiles in spite of himself. 

“I’ve wanted to do that for a while.” Hyunjin whispers. 

Jeongin responds by threading his fingers through Hyunjin’s hair and pulling him down for another kiss. The prince complies and he wraps his arms around Jeongin’s waist, slowly and sweetly, and it feels as if they have all the time in the world.

Hyunjin tastes like strawberries.


End file.
